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Jesus takes his last meal with his disciples and turns it into the Lord’s Supper. In the process he sets Judas off so that his death will occur as scheduled that afternoon because he is the reality that the Passover lamb was modelling.

Dan: (00:00)
Hi, and welcome to training for life redeemed. I’m your host, Dan I’m here with my father, David Jackson, as always, we are continuing our series through the book of Matthew. We’re coming up to towards the end of Matthew today, we’re hitting chapter 26. We aren’t even gonna get through all of chapter 26 today, so long chapter 75 verses. So we’re just gonna do verses 1, to 35. As we look into the events that kind of lead towards Jesus’ arrest. He’s not gonna get arrested in the first chunk of this chapter. but we’re definitely starting off Dad with the leaders of the Sanhedrin or, something like that. yeah. Meeting in an upper room and talking about how they’re going to arrest Jesus, how we’re gonna get rid of Jesus basically. Yeah.

David: (00:49)
Yeah. It’s a secret meeting. It’s it’s not in the Sanhedrin’s offices up in the temple. It’s in Caiaphas’s house, which tells you something it’s in the middle of the night. It’s clandestine. It’s this big plot. Interesting. You say, you know, sort of like the Sanhedrin, there’s no mention of the Pharisees being involved in this. Which I think is interesting cuz later on the Pharisees, or earlier on the Pharisees warn Jesus, that people were out to arrest him. so you sort of get the impression that the Pharisees have an argument with him, but it’s actually the Sadducees and the scribes and the guys up at the Sanhedrin that want him dead. so they’re having this little midnight meeting Tuesday night. Yeah. How we’re gonna make this happen,

Dan: (01:34)
But the Pharisees have actually had any authority to be able to done anything really. Yeah. Anyway, like yeah. My understanding is that they’re yeah. They like to think that they’re holy and great and all that kind of stuff and that they know stuff, but they’re not actually, they’re more, I mean, they’re not lay people, but they like lay people. Well, they’re, it’s like a minister. It’s not so much the person who’s in charge of the, of the team. This is like the chief priest. Isn’t it? These guys, these

David: (01:59)
Are the chief priest. These are the guys with the power. They’re the guys have collaborated with the Romans. they’re all networked. They know everybody. the Bible teachers, they’re having all these theological arguments with Jesus, but it’s the guys in power that want him dead. So Tuesday night, big meeting at Caiaphas’s

Dan: (02:20)
House. Yeah. Yeah. Secret plots in die room.

David: (02:22)
Are they scared

Dan: (02:23)
Of the lamb?

David: (02:24)
Yeah. And they’re scared of the crowds. So we’re gonna have to do it after the feast. Well, the feast, the feast starts Thursday night. And so this is Passover time. There’s about 50,000 extra Jewish men in town. So this is, and every, when you’ve got 50,000 extra Jewish men in town and a Roman Garrison of 3000, all you gotta do is strike a match and the whole country’s gonna blow up. So they’re scared of riots, absolutely terrified of riots and for good reason. So we’re gonna wait. The feast starts Thursday night. It ends the following, Saturday week. So it’s gonna go for eight days, Friday, Saturday, and then a week. so they’re planning to do it, you know, Tuesday night, maybe in a fortnight. Yeah. That’s not the way it’s gonna work.

Dan: (03:18)
No, but before we get into how he’s gonna work, we’re gonna go back in time, I guess here. Matthew’s going to say now when Jesus was in Bethany. Yeah. he’s not in Bethany at the moment he’s in Jerusalem. That’s right. so we’re going back to, I mean, if, if I go to like John’s kind of timetable, it’s kind of like after Lazarus’s resurrection, he, I know Lazarus’s resignation is very key for him being arrested and killed in John’s story. and that’s happening in Bethany. That’s where Mary and Martha are. Yep. out in Bethany. So we’re going back. What a week? Maybe. Well, not quite,

David: (03:52)
Yeah. Raising Lazarus probably happened a little over a week earlier. but you also have, you got to picture there’s 13 guys, including Jesus and they’re camping out. They’re not all living at somebody’s house so they’re camping out, possibly camping out in this garden of Gethsemane area. that seems to be their hangout. And you’ve gotta remember, they’ve gotta camp out during the feast, within the city limits of Jerusalem and Bethany is just on the other side, so yeah. But where do you go for meal? you go to somebody’s house in this case, Simon, the leper has invited everybody over for dinner somehow or another Mary, Martha and Lazarus are there too, whether that’s their house. and I think it’s Martha’s cooking in the meal. So he’s flashing back to what I, as best I can figure out is Saturday night. So we’re, we’re back Saturday night and Matthew is trying, is letting us know how this plot got together, with Judas and what set Judas off.

Dan: (05:08)
Yeah. Yeah. So we have this ointment, the anointing of Jesus’ feet. Yeah. there, and then you’ve moved forward into Judas’s bargaining. That’s gonna happen with the chief priests, right? It’s not with far but chief priest, chief priest, the people in charge. And he’s gonna fulfill prophecy basically and sell Jesus out for a few pieces of silver. Absolutely. very similar to stuff that happens to what Joseph gets sold for silver. And someone else talks about the price of slaves being around that price too. At some point during whenever it is Destructions of Jerusalem or something, I that remember what it was

David: (05:45)
Exodus, the price of a slave is 30 pieces Of silver

Dan: (05:47)
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. so Judas is doing that and this is his plan. Why, why is Judas go on to do that? Like what’s happened at this ointment time. yeah. That’s made Judas because I mean, Jesus has known the whole time that he’s gonna betray yeah. Him, but at what point does Judas know that he’s gonna betray Jesus. Yeah.

David: (06:13)
This is a real struggle for Judas. we need to appreciate that. He’s been with Jesus for three years. he, John tells us he was in charge of the money mm-hmm so whatever financial support Jesus and the 12 had Judas is the treasurer. Yeah.

Dan: (06:31)
And stealing bits and pieces.

David: (06:32)
John tells us he’s been P from in the box so he’s looking at this kingdom of God through the eyes of a businessman. And he’s basically saying, you know, I’m, I’m gonna jump on the wagon of this guy. He’s gonna become the king. I’m gonna be treasurer of the state of Israel. We’re gonna rule the world. This is great. I’m I’m in for the win. And now as we get to Passover week and Jesus keeps telling us, he’s gonna get killed. The doubts are, are growing. This isn’t actually gonna work. I’m not gonna be treasurer of the state of Israel. Jesus is leaving. He’s gonna get dead. He’s gonna rise from the dead. He’s going to come to the father in heaven. Yeah.

Dan: (07:11)
Most of that, Judas probably doesn’t understand, probably

David: (07:13)
Doesn’t understand, but he’s getting the hint, this isn’t working. And so we go to this dinner at Simon, the lepards house, and Mary takes a, a jar of nard worth 300 days pay.

Dan: (07:28)
Yeah. So pretty much a year’s wage,

David: (07:31)
Pretty much a year’s wage. And in one go, she pours it on his head and on his feet, which is what you do. When you welcome a guest into your house, you are anoint, not with 300 days, pay worth a

Dan: (07:43)
Perfume. No. With olive oil

David: (07:46)
Yeah. With something less valuable than that. so she’s, she’s just gone right over the top. And from what I can see, this looks like her dowry, it was traditional that you would, a father would give a woman, a year’s worth of money in something portable that she could carry with her if she had to run away. So if a husband beat her up or, you know, rejected her or divorced her, she can just go to the box, pick up her year’s money. And she’s safe. Fathers want that for their daughters. Cause you never know what husbands are gonna do. So she takes a whole lot and just pours it over. Jesus. Jesus says, she’s done that to prepare me for my burial. Judas looks at that and says, I’m not making any money outta this deal.

Dan: (08:36)


David: (08:36)
You know, this is, this is not gonna work

Dan: (08:40)
right. So he goes and gets 30 pieces of silver instead.

David: (08:44)
Right. So the 30 pieces of silver are worth 120 days work.

Dan: (08:48)
Yeah.

David: (08:49)
So basically he’s gonna get half of what she just poured on his head, to betray him. But that’s all he can rescue out of his three years with Jesus.

Dan: (08:58)
Yeah. So then with the next story, then we, we are moving up to the last Passover that’s gonna happen here. So we have a time marker here of now to introduce the verse. So we’re back to back

David: (09:10)
To Tuesday

Dan: (09:11)
Night when he was in Bethany. And now when he’s, when he’s here, we have, yeah, this is gonna be the says the last Passover. It’s not, I mean, it’s Passover. So I’m just reading your heading there. I’m just like your Bible’s. That’s great. Heading. Not a great heading. No,

Dan: (09:26)
just getting distracted though. Aren’t I so we have Passover meal and Passover’s gonna lead into the Lord’s supper, for us today. Yeah. Yep. why what’s so significant here. I mean, towards the end of it, there’s this great, significant thing that’s gonna happen, which I think is fantastic. But we’ll get to that in a minute. Why is it significant that this is all gonna happen on Passover night? Even like, why does he pick today? Like cuz Jesus gonna get this happening. Right. They’re planning it to be on Tuesday in a fortnight’s time. Jesus is like, no it’s meant to be today. Like it’s it’s gonna happen.

David: (10:00)
Jesus is in total control. So he’s gonna set the fire, starting gun and launch this thing. So in the middle of the, the last supper, which we’ll get to in a minute, Judas is gonna find out that Jesus knows that he’s been talking to the Sanhedrin guys. Jesus knows that Judas is gonna betray him and Judas reaction to that is I really don’t have another week and a bit to wait. right. If this is gonna work, it’s gonna have to happen. Now before the other 12 disciples, 11 disciples find out it’s me and they beat the tripe outta me. So in the middle of the meal at the beginning of the meal, when Jesus says, one of you will be betray, me and Judas says, not me. And Jesus says, yep. yep. You said it. And that’s the trigger Judas is out there. Dashes off and everybody thinks, oh yeah, you know, it’s passed over. He’s distributing food to the poor cuz that’s what you do on Passover. but he’s doing something else.

Dan: (11:02)
So does that then mean like when Jesus is saying it, does everyone miss the conversation that he has with Judas? Like how do they not get like if Jesus going not me, Jesus says, yes, it’s you, how do they then not go? It’s you

David: (11:14)
you get the impression. There’s 13 guys around a table and he makes this outrageous statement. One of you is gonna hand me over. And one by one, they just, they come to him and they say, it couldn’t be me. It’s sort of a question. It couldn’t be me. Could it. and when Judas asked the question, he says, you said it now, the other guys probably didn’t hear that.

Dan: (11:41)
Okay.

David: (11:42)
John probably did. Cuz he was leaning on next chest. He’s right next to him. And he sort of looking at this going what? Cuz they, I mean, nobody knows the whole picture only Jesus. So off he goes, what’s really interesting about this whole exercise. Friday is Passover. This is Thursday night. So Thursday night is technically Friday.

Dan: (12:14)
Yep.

David: (12:14)
But you wouldn’t eat the Passover lamb till Friday night. Yep. And John reminds us of that. So what you have here is a Passover meal the night before Passover meal. H And the reason is that at three o’clock in the afternoon, on Friday, they kill the Passover lambs. And by three o’clock tomorrow afternoon, Jesus is gonna be dead cuz he is the Passover lamb. So he says, you know, I’m anxious to eat this meal with you. This is the last time I will drink the cup. I will not taste the fruit of the vine, until I taste it a new in my father’s kingdom. So we’re gonna do a pre Passover because I won’t be here tomorrow night. they still don’t get that.

Dan: (13:04)
Yeah.

David: (13:06)
But he’s fired the starting gun and Judas is off . So when with Judas off now it’s time to do the Passover, the real meaningful part of the Passover. and that’s the head of the table has to tell the Passover story. And when he tells that story, he’s supposed to explain all the symbols. So you know, we’re gonna drink bit of eat bitter of herbs.

Dan: (13:33)
Yeah. Reminding your slavery,

David: (13:34)
Reminding your of slavery. We’ve got unle bread. It’s the bread of suffering. Yeah. it’s actually called that in the old Testament. it’s also the unleavened bread symbolizes new beginning. So you clean out all the yeast on Thursday.

Dan: (13:51)
Yeah. And don’t think of yeast. This is the thing I don’t people always go today. When you make bread, you buy yeast and it’s in your freezer and you scoop it out. Yeah. But they’re talking about like, if you make sourdough ever, or just research, how do sour? It’s a starter like it’s, they’re not just chucking out their packet of yeast that they’ve been no in their fridge. They’ve been fermenting this starter for the last generations. Well, well since the last Passover, hopefully. Yeah.

David: (14:15)
but in Egypt it was generations.

Dan: (14:18)
Oh yeah. Definitely. I mean, today you can go, you go to the best. Sourdough, making places in the world and they’re like, oh yeah, this starter’s been going for hundreds of years. Yeah. So they’re throwing out starters, like it’s, they’ve got, you know, jars or bowls that they’re using that they’ve gotta get rid of. And so it is, it’s just new start. Cause you think you really make that again from fresh, you mix your water and your flour, let it there. Sit there. You can’t make proper bread for another week.

David: (14:42)
In, in, in the original setting of the Exodus. When a, when a woman got married, her mother would take a lump of sourdough, dough, and hand it to her daughter on her wedding day. So that tomorrow morning she could make bread for her husband. So if you clean all of that out, you’ve left all of that culture. Yeah. That yeast culture behind, because you are gonna start a new culture. Yeah. And that’s the symbolism of unleavened bread. When I come to Christ, I leave my old life behind and I take on a new life. I have a new identity. I am no longer a sinner. I’m a Saint. Wow. You know that changes. I’ve gotta leave my old habits behind and put on a new culture. And that’s all symbolized in this unleavened bread. mind you, it’s also good bread for camping. cause it doesn’t go so moldy. so it’s, it’s this bread of suffering, which means we’re, we’ve been expelled to go and make a new start.

Dan: (15:45)
Yeah. So we’ve done the cup. Well, the bitter of herbs we’ve done the, the bread we do the cup. That’s all left. Yeah.

David: (15:53)
Well you look at that’s that that’s the symbolism. Jesus changes the symbolism. Now he says, I’m gonna take one slice of bread. Well, this is, this is like Indian roti. Yeah. Okay. It’s flat bread. It’s not Naan it’s not Leb bread cuz that’s all yeast.

Dan: (16:08)
Yes, that’s right. It’s definitely yeast in lab bread. All those people who think it doesn’t have yeast

David: (16:13)
so you’re taking a bit of roti and you’re breaking it off and using it like a dip. And he takes that and he says, I take of this. All of you this is my body. You have a share in my body. And Paul then explains one loaf, one body we who are many are one in Christ. So we’ve changed the symbolism from, you know, the bread of suffering to being, this reminds you that we are many, but we are one. And Jesus says, and many of the people who are gonna eat this feast aren’t here. Yeah. so there’s a lot more people are gonna join this loaf. This

Dan: (16:53)
Is there still crossed. Is there still an element of suffering with it? Like Jesus, when he does it, he says, this is my body that he’s broken for you. Yeah.

David: (17:00)
No, he doesn’t say that.

Dan: (17:01)
Doesn’t say that. No, the bread’s broke. ah, I gotcha. It just gets, said it every weekend and he does service it.

David: (17:08)
It does. And yet, yeah. I’m glad you raised it. The text says, this is my body, which is for you. And somehow, because he broke the bread, people will celebrate the Lord’s supper and say, which is broken for you. Yeah. The, the Bible says his body wasn’t broken.

Dan: (17:26)
No, it’s very true. I’m lucky Bible

David: (17:28)
Verse

Dan: (17:28)
Some 0.2. Yeah.

David: (17:30)
You know, not one bone of his body was broken. The point being he is the perfect undamaged sacrifice. Yeah. So he didn’t get smashed. he just got dead.

Dan: (17:42)
Yeah,

David: (17:43)
Yeah. Yeah. The, the cup one cup. He actually, I don’t know how our culture won’t tolerate this, but you take a cup of wine and everybody takes a sip out of the same cup. The symbolism is, this is the blood that was shed to pay for your sins. You get a share in actual fact what he’s doing. when we get to Gethsemane you have this picture of the cup of the wine of the wrath of God drink it and you die. Yeah. You’re drinking all of your guilt and all of the judgment. so that’s the cup of the wine of the wrath of God. And Jesus takes your cup of the wine of the wrath of God. And he hands you his cup, which is the cup of blessing. Yeah. And it’s called that. And here you have a share in the sacrifice of Jesus. and you share that because you’re sitting at the King’s table as the King’s forever family. And what made you that is that you, you are now because of what Jesus did. Forgiven restored and adopted.

Dan: (18:49)
Yeah. Okay. Now the thing I like at the end of the Passover Lord, so thing that happens is we then have Jesus. Like it clearly talks about the fact that he’s the firstborn child is about to walk outside right. Going into the night. and if you, if you know Exodus yeah. If it’s Passover, you’re dead. Right. You’re the first one saying you’re not under the blood you’re you

David: (19:12)
Don’t go

Dan: (19:12)
Outside. And so there’s this nice bit of symbolism there where as he’s leaving the house, as the first born leading all of his people down there and we have, you know, Peter’s gets confronted about Jesus, about the fact he’s gonna deny Jesus. And he’s like, I will never do that. I will never do that. he’s he’s very adamant about this. And I think, you know, he’s definitely being honest. Like he’s not, he’s not lying going, you know, he doesn’t think that he’s, he will do it, but I’m just gonna say, I’m not right.

David: (19:40)
He’s no, no, no. He’s

Dan: (19:41)
Passionate, passionate. He loves Jesus a lot. I think. Yeah. It’s very clear throughout, but yeah, he, he clearly doesn’t quite have he’s he’s not exactly a courageous bloke at the end. I, yeah,

David: (19:52)
I act

Dan: (19:53)
I actually, or maybe he’s just not sure what to do.

David: (19:55)
I actually think Peter is, he’s got a different model of courage. So when we get to gethsemane

Dan: (20:01)
He’s gonna slice of guy ears, he’s

David: (20:02)
Gonna pull his sword out and take on a, you know, a whole battalion of whatever troops that came out into arrest. Jesus. He, he, he is a courageous man and he’s true to his word. I’ll die for you. There’s me and my one sword and there’s 500 of them who cares, you know, nobody’s touching my Jesus and Jesus says, oh, just shut up and put it away.

Dan: (20:23)


David: (20:23)
Yeah, you guys go I’m the one that’s dying. Okay. and of that for Peter and everybody, that’s just totally confusing.

Dan: (20:34)
Yeah. So the denial then, I mean, we’re not up to the denial, but it’s gonna come, but

David: (20:39)
That’s a different,

Dan: (20:40)
I guess, we’ll talk about that later. I’ll talk. We’ll do it next week.

David: (20:44)
Yeah. That, but that’s Peter he’s, he’s just, he’s got his passion. He’s he? Whatever he believes and understands he’s gonna go with because Jesus is all of what it’s about. you, you just gotta, thank God he put Peter in the 12

Dan: (21:00)
All right. Well that brings us to the end of this episode. We are halfway through chapter 26. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. We’d love to hear from you. If you wanna make sure you come and, you know, finish this series off with us as we’re going through Matthew, make sure you hit the subscribe button and of all the things that I forgot to mention. If you wanna grab the study notes for this chapter, head over to trainingforliferedeem.com/ 83, and you can get your study notes there. Thank you so much for joining us. I look forward to continuing to chat through Matthew 26 next week. And hopefully I won’t look so silly.

David: (21:36)
You’re doing good. .